Guide to the B-25 Recovery Group Collection 1955-2003
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- B-25 Recovery Group Collection
- Creator
- B-25 Recovery Group
- Collection Number
- MSS 406
- Extent
- 1.5 linear feet (2 boxes)
- Date
- 1955-2003
- Abstract
- In January of 1956 a B-25 Mitchell Bomber, on a routine mission from Nevada to Harrisburg, Pa., was forced to crash-land in the Monongahela River. Four of the six crew members survived the incident. While recovery efforts were made in 1956, and more recently in the early 2000s, the aircraft has never been located, spurring decades of speculation about the "Ghost Bomber of the Monongahela." The B-25 "Ghost Bomber" Collection includes information on the initial plane crash in 1956, subsequent searches, and materials documenting the efforts of the B-25 Recovery Group.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
In late January, 1956 a World War II Mitchell B-25 Bomber, flight No. 44-29125, was on a routine flight from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to Harrisburg, Pa., to pick up a cargo of air plane parts. Due to the distance of the flight, the plane refueled in Oklahoma and again in Michigan. In addition to pilot Major William Dotson and the co-pilot Captain John Jamieson, four other men were aboard the plane: Captain Jean Ingraham, Staff Sergeant Walter Soocey, Airman Second Class Charles Smith, and Master Sergeant Alfred Alleman.
At around four p.m. on January 31, 1956 the crew reported a loss of fuel and asked for permission to land at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. Estimating their fuel would not last, they instead requested to land at Allegheny County Airport. At approximately four twenty p.m., with complete loss of fuel and engine failure, Major Dotson was forced to abandon the plane in the Monongahela River. While all six men aboard the plane survived the initial crash, Captain Ingraham and Staff Sergeant Soocey died while attempting to swim to shore. The plane disappeared beneath the river.
Over the course of the next several months many unsuccessful attempts were made to locate and salvage the B-25. The inability to find the aircraft spurred the creation of the nickname "Ghost Bomber of the Monongahela." Some eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the government secretly remove the bomber in the dead of night shortly after the crash. However, the official position of the Air Force is that locating bomber became too expensive for an outdated model from World War II.
Since the crash, there has been much speculation as to what the plane might have been carrying, with theories ranging from nuclear or chemical weapons, Soviet defectors, mafia money, and show girls from Las Vegas on their way to entertain senators in Washington. Furthermore, eyewitnesses claimed to have seen seven men pulled from the Monongahela River instead of six.
In the late 1990s a group was formed to revive the search for the downed aircraft. The B-25 Recovery Group, in collaboration with the Heinz History Center, used modern sonar technology in attempting to locate what was left of the missing bomber. The group consists of principle members Robert Shema, Steve Byers, Matt Pundzak, John Uldrich, as well as volunteers. They have yet to locate the missing plane.
Scope and Content Notes
The B-25 Recovery Group Collection includes information on the initial plane crash in 1956, subsequent searches, and materials documenting the efforts of the B-25 Recovery Group. Included are copies of newspaper clippings from January and February of 1956, the 40th anniversary of the crash in the 1990s, and interest pieces in local newspapers spurred by the efforts of the Recovery Group. There are copies of the Air Force's accident reports, some eyewitness accounts, general information on B-25 bombers, a ship log for the salvage vessel Forsythia, and maps of the river and of the Pittsburgh area. The collection includes side scan sonar surveys, sonar images, as well as photographs of the Recovery Group and video tapes of their efforts on the river. Correspondence between the Recovery Group and the History Center highlights their collaboration, as well as the educational exhibit that was featured at the History Center. Additionally, there is information about members of the Recovery Group, and presentations given by and advertisements sponsored by the group. The materials are mostly research information compiled by the History Center and the Recovery Group during their collaboration. Audiovisual material includes the Monongahela Mystery DVD that contains a Rick Sebak segment and local news coverage, a DVD containing Heinz History Center lecture and boat ride from 2006, and videocassettes of the Recovery Group's activities from 1997 through 2002.
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired from the B-25 Recovery Group and the History Center between 1993-2003.
Preferred Citation
B-25 Recovery Group Collection, 1955-2003, MSS 0406 , Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
Preliminary processing by Alex J. Toner on 06/29/12. Initial processing, including the writing of a container list, was completed by Elizabeth Williams in 2004. Additions to the collection were processed by Matthew Strauss in 2019.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Existence and Location of Copies
The content from the Monongahela Mystery DVD (Box 2, Folder 3) and the Heinz History Center lecture and boat ride DVD (Box 2, Folder 3) has been migrated from the accessioned storage media. The corresponding digital files are available for patron viewing.
Subjects
- United States--Air Force
- Pittsburgh (Pa.)
- Mitchell (Bomber)
- Airplanes.
- Aircraft Accidents--Pennsylvania.
- B-25 Recovery Group.
- Monongahela River (W.Va. And Pa.)